


Roped Back to Life

by sarriathmg



Series: Whumptober/Noncontober/Ten Trails Whump challenge 2020 [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Amnesia, Amnesiac Jason Todd, Art, Bondage, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Japanese Rope Bondage, Jason Todd is the Red Hooded Ninja (Young Justice), M/M, Non-Consensual Bondage, Past Underage Sex, Protective Dick Grayson, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Resurrected Jason Todd, Reunions, Rope Bondage, Sexual Tension, Shibari, Young Justice Season 3, fix-it for S03E06 Rescue Op, implication that Ra's is a creep, sorta?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:00:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26959960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarriathmg/pseuds/sarriathmg
Summary: A rescue mission brings Nightwing and the Team back to Infinity Island, where Ra's had left a present for them to find.Written for Whumptober day 11 Prompt: Struggling.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Jason Todd, implied Ra's al Ghul/Jason Todd - Relationship
Series: Whumptober/Noncontober/Ten Trails Whump challenge 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953412
Comments: 14
Kudos: 304





	Roped Back to Life

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [🐐[kinky art galore] Jason Todd in various AUs🐰](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23011162) by [sarriathmg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarriathmg/pseuds/sarriathmg). 



> This is inspired by a bondage pic I did a while ago of the Red-Hooded Ninja from Young Justice season 3. Got a lot of requests to write a fic for that picture. And here it is.
> 
> There are some implications of Ra's Al Ghul/Jason with Ra's being a total creep, and the "past underage sex" tag refers to the Dick/Jason relationship pre-death, where both characters were underage and the relationship was consensual. There's maybe a couple of flashback paragraphs with it but it doesn't go into _too_ much detail.
> 
> Whumptober day 11 Prompt: Struggling.
> 
> Thanks to anyone who said they wanted a story 🤗. Hopefully, this is in line with what some of you wanted when you asked.

Before Dick rushes into the eastern-style chamber he was expecting a lot of things. Maybe an ambush waiting. Ra’s’ secret army lying in wait for the perfect chance to attack. The Sensei with his sword sitting in a lotus pose, calmly expecting them. Or the mysterious red-hooded ninja who he’d fought only moments before, holding his katana out in silence, a sleeping baby in his left arm…

Maybe even Ra’s himself. Standing in the middle of the room, taunting him.  _ What’s the matter, young detective? Come here to retrieve something you’ve lost? _

_ Yes,  _ Dick would have replied.  _ You have got something of ours. _

What he didn’t expect was this. 

The sliding door has been open an inch before they came up to it, feet creaking loudly on the wooden porch outside. It feels like a trap deliberately set for them, silently beckoning them to take the bait. The sound of a bamboo sōzu can be heard from the garden, tapping in intervals as it fills up with water from a stream. Dick holds his breath as his fingers close in on the wooden frame of the sliding panel and carefully urges it open, the other hand tightening around his escrima to prepare for an ambush. His teammates, newly acquired and old, sneaking behind him under his leadership. The door slides open slowly and smoothly, a tiny creak of the wood piercing the silence.

The first thing Dick sees inside is a long piece of rope with many large knots tied into it, pulled taut with the two ends fixed onto protrusions structured close to the ceiling. Eyes follow the rope to the middle of the room and Dick’s vision lands on the red-clothed figure kneeling. A figure he’s more than familiar with by now.

It’s the ninja from earlier. He has his back facing them, and Dick relaxes his grip because it’s clear to the world that the assassin is restrained.

The assassin’s arms are tied behind him with hemp ropes, his torso decorated with a beautiful harness of knots. His legs are folded and bound together as he delicately balances on his knees, the knotted rope running between his legs with his red tunic draping over it. The ninja had been struggling, Dick can tell, but his body immediately straightens as he hears the panel sliding open. It’s not hard to see how the young man’s suit is a mess, clasps opened and the fabric bunching up under the bondage, wrinkling with the continued shuffling of his torso, the taut rope between his thighs wavering in its position with the movements of his hips, the friction forces him to push down a low moan, threatening to break out of his larynx.

Dick is surprised, but he stays calm and professional as he nudges the door farther and walks in, posture straighter now that he has made sure there are no more threats in the room. The ninja goes completely still, then he starts struggling more and twists his body in an attempt to see what’s behind him. But Dick keeps his cool and inspects the interior, his teammates trailing in behind him.

The room is a small one, square-shaped, sized with four-and-a-half tatamis making up its soft straw flooring. It is empty besides a pot of bonsai at one corner of the room and a piece of green fabric thrown haphazardly beside it, wrinkled and bunched up from the hastiness of the drop. Dick goes over and picks it off of the floor, already smelling the scent of milk and baby powder from it.

“He’s not here,” after a few seconds of inspection, he concludes, keeping his voice cool, “Terra, Halo, and Forager: take a look around the base. Ra’s must have taken him somewhere. They can’t have gone far.”

The new members follow the order and fly out of the room in a row. Artemis walks in behind them with Conner following suit. The archer is quiet, eyes set on the restrained assassin before her. Dick stands up, letting the baby blanket drop. He looks down as well, staring at the restrained man—no, boy—bound and struggling.

The young man had been more than a trained fighter when they’d faced him. He was a menace, fighting by Ra’s’ side and was skilled enough for the Demon’s Head to entrust him with the task of protecting his grandson. Dick had fought him and had seen how competent he can be battling with only one free hand. It’s why it is such a shock now to see him tied up in an undignified position like this.

The ninja’s head is downturned, the hood of his tunic still covering his head despite the messy state of his clothes. Dick cannot see anything beyond the dark hair peeking from it. Dick makes a gesture to both Artemis and Conner, and together they approach the boy slowly and cautiously, until Dick is standing at the right angle to look at the ninja from the front.

It’s hard to tell what he looks like when his head is downturned and covered by his hood, but it's easy to see the state of the ninja's clothes, unfastened and hanging loose on the boy's torso, clasps open and suspiciously looking like it’s done that way on purpose—black suit bunched up above the chest, red tunic opened from the front. Beneath the ropes, on the left side, a pink nipple is flashing out, perking up from either the coolness of the air or the friction of the ropes, making Dick swallow involuntarily. The boy’s black pants are hanging low on his hips, revealing the curve of his hip bone, the rope running below the underside of his crotch making tiny crinkling sounds as the knots rub against the smooth fabric of the suit. His torso twists inside their bondage, pale skin flushing from the roughness of the ropes, his head going from side to side in his attempt to get himself out of the restraints. The scene is lewd.

With one hand out in a gesture to tell his teammates to stand by, Dick slowly creeps up towards the mysterious ninja. Taking an escrima stick from his back, he bounces it in his hands to hold one end, then carefully extends it in his arm and hooks the tip right beneath the ninja’s hood, flipping it off to reveal his face.

The hood falls onto struggling shoulders, revealing a head of black hair and a pale forehead. The boy doesn’t respond to the turn of events beyond a muffled whimper. Dick cocks his head slightly to the left as he always does when he’s lost in thought. The boy is still facing down, so Dick takes the initiative again and hooks the escrima underneath his chin and lifts his face to meet his gaze.

Dick freezes up at what he sees. The ninja’s mask and goggles are nowhere to be found, his face is bare. His eyes are misted over, familiar blues with an unfamiliar tinge of greenish hue. There’s a makeshift gag made from blue fabric tied between the boy’s teeth, a small whine coming out, prompted by the discomfort of the escrima’s hard metal contacting his skin. And the face belongs to someone Dick knew. Someone that he doesn’t think he’ll ever see again.

Dick remembers a boy, only a few years younger than him, naive and ignorant in his youthfulness like how Dick was… _ smiling mischievously as he got down on his knees between missions, in the team showers after the other members had already left… Dick remembers his hand in the other’s hair as he tried to suppress his moans, the boy’s moist lips closing around his erection. He remembers afterward how he’d pushed the smaller body towards the shower wall playfully and took him while the showerhead still ran with warm sprinkles, the boy moaning his name and arching his body for him perfectly-  _ “Dick...Oh, God, Dick-” _ and Dick couldn’t… just couldn’t hold himself in... _

He remembers an explosion,  _ a mission gone wrong, and a boy running back towards danger to get the last few civilians to safety… and Dick's inability to stop him or to retrieve the body of a person so close to him… Then, a memorial. An empty monument for a dead boy. _

“My God,” Artemis gasps from behind him. Dick can hear Conner walking close as well, footsteps coming up then stopping. Dick’s hand drops, his weapon almost falling out. His face is frozen in his shocked state, his brain bugging out with disbelief.

“-Jason?” he breaths.

“But-” Conner pipes up, voices strained- “he shouldn’t be... We’ve all seen the explosion, how-”

It takes a few more seconds, but Dick manages to get close and kneel after returning his escrima stick to its hoister—his knees feeling too weak to hold himself up—and gently places one free hand, then the other, onto the boy’s cheeks.

Jason stills at the contact, and for a moment it looks like he might be trying to move away. But he stays exactly where he is, much to Dick’s surprise. When he looks up it looks like his eyes can’t focus, there’s a light of familiarity briefly overtaking his pupils before the fogginess befalls them again.

Dick inspects Jason’s face, trying to put it together, to take in how much the boy had changed and how much he hadn’t. Trying to figure out how he had survived. Dick eventually notices the ring of color shift around the irises and finds them looking suspiciously like the waters of a certain mystical pool, glowing an eerie green. And pieces finally start to fit into place.

Jason looks over and whimpers again through the gag, the look of distress on his face snaps Dick back to reality. He reaches forward and fumbles at the knot behind Jason’s head, the latter bending his neck to allow him access until it’s loosened. Dick pulls the saliva-drenched fabric out of Jason's lips.

“Who did this to you?”

Jason visibly gasps out loud. He pants a little to catch his breath, and Dick kneels patiently, on one knee, in front of him awaiting his answer. Then Jason’s head lifts again, a few wet hairs sticking to his cheek with spit and sweat as he says in a hoarse, faraway voice, “He-he took him.”

Dick can’t hide his surprise.

“Who?”

“Master. He took him- took Damian.”

It takes a few seconds for Dick to realize that by “master” Jason refers to Ra’s Al Ghul. It takes a few more for him to understand Damian is the name of Bruce’s biological son.

The whole indication of it. The sheer idea that his Little Wing had been resurrected and alive and  _ kept a secret  _ from him this whole time. (The fact that he is tied up, wrapped like a present for them to find, is an idea that almost makes the bile rise in Dick's throat.) And Dick is temporarily lost in thought, lost in the infuriating picture of Ra’s tying his ropes around Jason, pulling his suit up to reveal his chest and abdomen, wrapping the strands, round and round, crafting the many-diamond harness until the ropes leave the sensitive skin with reddish marks all over. And Jason just kneels there, obedient as he allows the act to continue without putting up even an  _ inkling _ of a fight-

Then there is a hand on his shoulder, and Dick finally snaps back, Artemis stabilizing him with her presence. Dick’s eyes fall back onto his successor and he sees a hint of a plea in those Lazarus-tinged eyes. Guilt briefly seizes him, and he finally starts to work, pulling out a utility knife from his belt to begin cutting Jason loose.

He starts with the knotted rope between Jason’s thighs, and the taut braid snaps with a cracking noise as Jason moans from the release of pressure. His body falls and he supports himself on his bound legs. Dick then cuts the ropes binding Jason’s thighs and lower legs together, the tight ropes snapping away one by one, releasing the limbs from their confines.

He moves on to the arms, cutting away at the ropes restraining Jason’s wrists and arms to free them. As soon as he can move again, Jason snags the knife out of Dick’s hand and starts cutting himself free of the harness tied around his torso. Dick lets him do it, and he can sense a tension rising in the air as his teammates ready themselves in case Jason decides to attack.

Jason doesn’t do anything threatening. He lets the broken ropes fall around him haphazardly before hastily standing up and redressing himself. It’s almost incredible to watch how fast he puts himself together despite the peril he’s in only moments before. Dick watches in awe as the red-hooded ninja he’d once fought appears again before his eyes when Jason pulls down his suit and rebuttons himself, tidying up to look exactly like how he’d looked before. Then he kneels on the floor and flips a floorboard out of the way, retrieving his sword and belt from underneath it.

There’s a movement behind Dick when Artemis shifts, as if wanting to stop the boy from arming himself. Dick bars her with his hand and allows Jason to finish. He is overflowing with emotions, mostly the ecstasy and the lingering disbelief from seeing Jason alive and back. But it’d also be a lie to say there isn’t a small part of Dick that’s reluctant to see the rope-marked skin disappear under his suit.

When Jason turns back, Dick doesn’t miss the slight blush on his face. Jason takes the belted scabbard before quickly gesturing with his hand and sliding out of the room, swift like any League assassin. Dick doesn’t have time to dwell on any of it. He quickly follows, Artemis and Conner on his heels.

  
  


They were preparing for a battle. Dick had equipped for it and had called the newer teammates back to regroup, fully expecting to fight. That’s not what they get.

Jason had signaled them towards the shore of the island, and the whole team followed in silence. They trusted Dick enough to not question, and Dick’s hunch said to believe Jason. Maybe it’s the look of panic on his successor's face, or perhaps he adored the way Jason had fought hard to protect Damian. He allowed the boy to lead the way.

The shore is almost devoid of human beings. By the time the team reaches it, there is only a helicopter there, doors open and a single figure standing at its feet.

Jason stops a few yards away from her, and Dick does the same, hands ready at the handles of his escrima as the rest of his team prepares to attack. The woman is wearing a dark green cape and a black bodysuit, leaning onto the helicopter with a bundle in her arms.

Jason stands straight, not in any stance that might indicate a fight. He doesn’t draw his sword, and he starts to slowly walk towards the dark-haired woman, her face turning to him.

Dick makes no move, and so the rest of his team stands still as well. Dick’s eyes had set on Damian a few moments ago, peaceful and unharmed, the baby sleeping soundly in Talia’s arms. Ra’s is nowhere to be found.

Jason walks far then stops in front of Talia, dipping his head in a show of respect. She nods in response, changing posture and shifting the baby in her arms, before she starts to talk.

“Can you hear what they are saying?” Dick whispers to Conner without moving his head. The half-Kryptonian takes the order and listens.

He goes completely still for a few moments as he picks up the conversation with his enhanced hearing, then he finally whispers back.

“Talia is telling Jason that she doesn’t have much time, and that the only reason she’s here now is because she had had her father tricked,” Conner says.

Then, another long silence as the man listens. Talia is looking tense as she leans forward, seemingly giving instructions to this boy she puts a surprising amount of trust into. Jason stands still and listens, nodding once or twice. Dick isn’t even surprised when the daughter of the Demon’s Head hands the sleeping baby to Jason, who eagerly takes him. Talia then has both of her hands on Jason’s upper arms, gripping him closely as she keeps talking.

“What is she saying now?” Dick questions.

“Talia is telling Jason to go home. And… to go back to their father.”

Dick falls silent at the indication of that sentence. He looks on and inspects his lost successor from afar.

Looking at the young assassin as he listens to the mistress he’d served for the past years, it’s so tempting to fly up there and to stay close to him. Dick wonders what he’s been through, what had happened to him. He wants to sit him down and listen as Jason recounts the past four years, while Dick jogs his memories with small details of their past. Even if he can just place a hand on Jason’s shoulder, to have a single grip on him and to make sure he won’t just disappear again—after all, it has all happened so fast, how would Dick know this isn’t all a dream or some sick illusion… another one of a psychic’s cruel conjurings? Dick wants to know Jason is real and solid, that Damian is real and here with them. What if Jason decides to step into the helicopter and fly off with Talia? There are so many ways that he could still lose him.

Ra's did this. He had somehow found Jason, took him away, and kept him a secret from them, from  _ Dick, _ this entire time. Ra’s had then decided to discard Jason after he’d done with him, throwing away a faithful guardian who had loyally protected the Demon’s heir like he’s nothing more than a tool, giving him over to them as a taunt. Ra’s presented Jason in a twisted show of power, wrapping Jason up as a Christmas gift with ropes instead of ribbons. Let his predecessor find him in such a vulnerable and compromised state.

Dick rages, his inside burning up with anger. Jason was his,  _ is _ his. The idea of someone doing that to him is making Dick’s protective streak jump into overdrive.

He barely notices when Talia stops talking, stands straight, and looks towards them.

Dick keeps his cool, not moving an inch when Conner briefly stiffens up beside him.

“What?”

“She said- she just told him that she knows I am listening.”

Dick looks on, at how Talia’s eyes are locked directly to his, her lips moving silently.

“And?” Dick asks after a few more seconds.

“She knows that we can take good care of them. And that he should come with us.”

Dick almost doesn’t realize how his body relaxes with those words. Far away, Talia leans in and places a lingering kiss on Jason’s forehead, seemingly whispering a goodbye to him.

Talia turns away, her green cape flapping in the air. The helicopter’s engine starts, propeller running and picking up speed as the woman climbs inside, looking back and giving a slight wave to her red-hooded guard and her infant son.

When the aircraft lifts off Jason stands still on the sand, head rising to see where it disappears into the sky.

_ M’gann, _ Dick calls out through the psychic link,  _ can you come and pick us up? _

Somewhere far away, he gets an affirmation from the Martian. Yes, she can, and it would take around fifteen minutes for the Bio-Ship to reach this side of Infinity Island.

Dick breaks off the link and walks towards the lone figure still staring up into the air. Damian is stirring in his arms, his sound sleep disturbed by the noise of the helicopter.

“Ready to go home?” Dick asks, wrapping a hand around Jason’s shoulder almost possessively. Jason stills a little, but he soon relaxes.

None of Dick’s teammates followed him. Dick looks back and sees Conner explaining something embarrassingly to a curious Forager and a clueless Violet while Tara stands quietly beside them. Artemis is looking over to him with her arms crossed, a knowing smile on her face.

Damian is making small noises now, and Jason’s attention snaps back down, wherein he starts to softly bounce the baby in his arms, cooing at him.

“-Grayson,” the assassin finally speaks up, voice distant. Dick slowly runs his hand up and down the boy’s back, feeling the silky fabric under his palm.

“Yeah, it’s me, Little Wing,” Dick carefully says, “I got you. You’re okay now.”

“-Okay...”

Dick looks over Jason’s shoulder and stares into the baby’s bright eyes. Damian looks up curiously, reaching out his little arm. Dick offers up his hand, and the kid holds his index finger with his tiny digits.

Dick hears a sound as the Bio-Ship lands behind them, shedding her camouflage and conjuring up an entrance for them. Dick looks back and sees Artemis starting to usher the kids inside like a concerned mother. He turns back, saying to his successor softly, “Come on. Bruce is waiting at home. Alfred, too.”

It takes a few more seconds, but Jason finally follows him. Dick has his hand on his back this entire time, guiding him towards the ship, towards their home.

It’s going to be fine. They rescued Damian and completed their mission, and what's more, they have found the bird they had lost many years ago.

Dick can't wait to tell Bruce, and Alfred, and the rest of the team … Most importantly, he can't wait to take Jason back to his room and introduce him back to the manor. He can't wait to hold him and feel his warmth.

To know he is now alive and with them.

**Author's Note:**

> ⚠️(Slight spoilers for the upcoming _A Death in the Family_ movie, don't read this note if you don't want to be spoiled of anything)⚠️  
> ⚠️(Slight spoilers for the upcoming _A Death in the Family_ movie, don't read this note if you don't want to be spoiled of anything)⚠️  
> ⚠️(Slight spoilers for the upcoming _A Death in the Family_ movie, don't read this note if you don't want to be spoiled of anything)⚠️
> 
> According to some spoilers online we're getting a canon version of Jason parenting baby Damian in that movie and I'm hyped for it, even though it's supposed to be a timeline where Jason turns evil (Hush). It's just the perfect time to bring more Jason & baby Damian back into the picture, lol.


End file.
